Time flies when you are happy.

Of course, I heard people say that before, but I never realised how very true it was until the days after Vlad's return.

"I don't understand why you insist that I wake you up this early every morning. You should sleep more..." Vlad murmured in my ear, sitting on the bed already dressed and ready for another busy day.

It was still dark outside, but as the castle was teeming with guests, more or less welcome, ever since his return, there was a lot for him to do. We didn't see as much of each other as I would like because I preferred to avoid most of them and opted for staying in our rooms when Vlad couldn't be with me. Still, just knowing that he was somewhere in the castle, within my reach and safe, was making me feel happy.

"Then I wouldn't see you at all until dinner," I said sleepily, running my hands through his hair and pulling him closer for a kiss. "When do you think they will leave?" I asked when he laid back down next to me for a few more precious minutes, looking in my eyes and pushing a few unruly curls away from my face. "We could stay a whole day in bed... "

"Now that sounds tempting," he smiled, running his thumb over my bottom lip, "but as long as your 'friend' Petru stays here, it won't be possible."

I groaned. Petru Rareş was definitely getting on my nerves. I didn't like him. He was... creepy. And I kept bumping into him in the corridors unexpectedly, whenever I moved around the castle.

"Can't you just make him leave? Like you do with Shadow sometimes? Or, if he won't go, make him disappear in a puff of smoke or something?" I giggled, imagining the obnoxious Petru dissolving into the ether in front of my eyes.

"Maybe you should ask your nurse to send him away," Vlad said mysteriously, but his eyes crinkled at the corners with a suppressed smile. "Petru has always been... scared of her, I think. I've heard that he is sure our old Katerina is a witch."

I laughed. The idea of my old nurse being a witch was amusing. "Does he think she concocts love potions during the nights of full moon and hands them out to his vampire friends and your Guards so they all fall in love with human girls?" That sounded like one thing the awful Petru could be afraid of.

"Exactly," Vlad said, smiling broadly, playing along. "Maybe he thinks you two conjure your spells together, you with your beautiful red hair could easily pass for a witch's little helper..." he teased, kissing me deeply. He pulled me in a bone shattering embrace as my heart started to race, and my breath hitched when his soft lips found their way lower, reaching the bare skin of my neck and shoulder.

"I love it when you blush," he murmured, stroking my cheek, making my blush deepen.

"I love you," I whispered, feeling short of oxygen.

He kissed me one more time, then stood up.

"Are you not staying?" I asked, sitting up and blushing again as even I heard how disappointed my voice sounded.

He smiled but shook his head firmly. "I was supposed to be downstairs quite a while ago. Petru is waiting for me. And don't forget, more members of the Council are coming today."

Oh, why can't they leave us alone!

"He is awful," I said as I pictured the spooky man pacing across the Great Hall, my skin promptly crawling into gooseflesh.

"He is. But he won't do anything against Katerina openly, he wouldn't dare. You mustn't worry, I shouldn't have told you anything," he said, observing me intently, trying to read my mind. "I'm sorry, Samara, I can't send him away. If we want the Council to permit Ioan and Clara's wedding, we will have to suffer his presence for as long as he decides to stay," Vlad added, frowning. "There is Sorina and Mihail to think about, too. Mihail would like to marry the girl as soon as she recovers."

"Will there be a double wedding, then?" I asked, intrigued, imagining how much of an extra confusion an event like that would cause in the castle.

"I really don't think so," Vlad said softly, coming to sit next to me again. He looked at me intently as if he was deciding just how much of what was on his mind he could tell me. "I think all will be well for Sorina and Mihail. None of the members of the Council will object to them being married after her transition. But I don't expect them to make it easy for Clara and Ioan, as long as he won't change her..."

"But they let your son marry a human girl... " I said hopefully, clutching at the straws as I remembered my half forgotten conversation with Junior.

Vlad looked at me surprised, as if he didn't expect me to know about it. "The Council didn't exist yet, back then."

"They are not exactly thrilled about the two of us, I think, we are not the best example..." I murmured.

Vlad wrapped his arms around me again, saying, "No, but they can't do anything about it. I don't care what they think. I love you."

He kissed me again gently then spoke from the door, before I noticed he had left the bed, "See you later in the kitchen." With that, he was gone.

"Right," I muttered towards the already empty chamber. "See you tonight." I let myself fall back into the pillows, yawning and stretching, revelling for a few more minutes in the warmness trapped in the covers.

The dinner in the kitchen had become our daily routine. The highlight of those days when I wouldn't see him since he left my chamber, our chamber, at the break of dawn.

While I finally got up and dressed, I couldn't stop thinking about Petru Rareş, or rather about what Vlad had said about him. Was that really why he was still here? Observing Katerina? Or... me? I remembered him saying I was different. Maybe my slightly odd behaviour was enough... could he think... Just a mere suggestion of witchcraft in this time and place could cause a lot of trouble. I had read enough history books to know that. Of course, I did not expect to be burned at the stake as a heretic. They were vampires for goodness' sake, not a particularly religious lot. Still, I had a feeling that being labelled as strange wasn't good. They might not agree with the Church, but they might have their own reasons to be scared and determined to get rid of 'witches', or inconvenient human women, to be precise, all the same.

Clara came in with my breakfast as soon as I was dressed, scattering my unpleasant thoughts. We ate together with Shadow, who woke up whenever the food was brought in. Then we left for Sorina's room, leaving the wolf to find his way out of the castle alone.

It had been a few weeks now since the fire and the corridor in front of our chambers was continuously guarded by a number of knights and even the poor Guards. As the events of that night were still a mystery, or at least no news reached my ears, anyway, there was no point in arguing their presence. So I simply made my way towards Sorina's room, saying my 'hellos' and 'good mornings' patiently.

The only thing that changed during these weeks was Sorina's state of health. The girl was obviously getting better.

"How is she this morning?" I asked Katerina as soon as I reached the young woman's bedside.

"Much better, my lady. She is nearly ready. It won't be more than a couple of days now..."

"That's great," I said, looking at Sorina.

She was sleeping peacefully, breathing regularly. She was not unconscious and burning with fever as when I saw her for the first time.

I felt relieved. They all assured me that Sorina was through the worst, her body was healing, changing. The change was visible; her muscles seemed more toned, her body less fragile. Her hair was shinier, her features more pronounced... The young woman looked more... inhumanly beautiful. The strangest thing was her heart. It was beating in an erratic rhythm, like Vlad's, and slowing down. It was supposed to be like that, I was told. Apparently, she was already one of them.

There was just one thing to be done, and Mihail would see to it as soon as she was ready. But no one was willing to tell me how exactly it was to be done. How frustrating.

"You can go, Katerina. I'll stay with her," I said as on most mornings.

There had been a few rare days which I had spent mostly with Vlad, but even then, I would stop by several times to see her.

"There's no point for you to stay here. She can't hear you, my lady," she replied as usual.

As I sat down, ignoring her objections, Katerina shuffled towards the door, knowing I would not give up.

I didn't think Katerina was right, though. Sorina knew we were with her. She seemed always more relaxed when Mihail was present. I also noticed how her face changed and became more attentive whenever I read aloud from my book. As if she was trying to grasp the meaning of the words pronounced in a language she didn't recognise, understand the few scenes I read to her all over again, the few pages that I liked enough to leave them as they were. The rest of Stoker's Dracula have become illegible in the course of the weeks because I drew over its pages with a piece of brown-reddish chalk I had found in the library.

Drawing had become my new hobby, something to keep my mind and hands occupied while Clara busied herself with embroidering a new pair of sleeves for the yellow dress I had given her. She was so skilled that it was a pleasure to watch her nimble fingers flying above the bright fabric guiding a needle through the thin, shiny material, creating golden shapes on its surface.

She meant to wear the gown at the ball.

The ball that would be happening as soon as Sorina was fine and fit enough to attend. The ball where the entire Council would be present and the two couples would ask to be married.

I looked away from busy Clara as I remembered Vlad's words, 'I don't expect them to make it easy for Clara and Ioan...' I hoped our Clara would somehow make them change their minds. Maybe I should ask Katerina to charm them, I thought with a smile when I recalled Vlad telling me what Petru thought about my nurse.

A few more days passed in this manner. Then one afternoon as I was sitting back down at Sorina's bedside after lunch, my thoughts strolling back to my other life as they did sometimes, I heard the young woman taking a sharp intake of breath.

"Clara!" I called my companion alarmed.

"I'll fetch Mihail, my lady, I think she is about to wake..."

"Hurry," I told her. "Is there something I can do for Sorina while I wait for Mihail?"

"I don't think so, my lady. I'll be back in a moment!" she called from the door.

I watched helplessly as with every laboured breath the young woman took, her heart seemed to slow down even more. Her pulse was nearly nonexistent when Mihail finally appeared in the doorway and came quickly to the bed.

I stood up from my chair, offering the place to him, but he sat down on the bed close to Sorina.

"If I can't help you, Mihail, I'll just leave you two alone, shall I?" I proposed.

One part of me wanted to stay, to see what would happen now knowing that Vlad would never tell me... But it seemed such an important, if not intimate moment, for the couple that I wanted them to be alone when she woke up.

"Would you stay, my lady?" Mihail asked with a pleading and apologetic look at me and the slightest nod towards the shadows by the fireplace.

Looking over there, I noticed Petru and one more member of the Council, whose name I could not remember, leaning against the mantelpiece.

What is he doing here? He is acting as if he was at home in this castle...

Petru smiled at me in his typically unctuous manner, but I did not smile back. I'd had enough of him. And apparently, I was not the only one.

I turned back to Mihail. "Of course I will stay," I promised.

Mihail nodded his silent thanks, then moved even closer to Sorina. I watched as he lifted her head and shoulders off the pillows, making her body lean against his. Suddenly, there was a small knife in his hand, and before I could grasp what he was about to do, he cut his forearm from wrist towards the elbow. The wound wasn't long and not even deep, but it filled with blood before he brought it to Sorina's lips. The next thing I knew were my knees giving way, and then, just before I dropped to the floor, Vlad's arms pulling me to his side.

I took a deep breath. Have I just forgotten to breathe?

"Why are you here?" Vlad asked me, somehow managing to sound angry and relieved at the same time.

"I... " I started to say but stopped immediately when I heard a silent chuckle from the fireplace.

Vlad tightened his embrace around me as his eyes travelled from me to Petru, then back.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yes," I said simply. And I definitely wouldn't have fainted if you, or anyone else had told me before what to expect, I thought, trying to transmit my thoughts to him.

Maybe he understood because the corners of his lips lifted in a guilty half smile as he kissed me on the forehead. "You are one brave little woman," he whispered in my ear.

I smiled too, then turned towards the bed only to see that Mihail's wrist was still pressed against Sorina's lips.

"Is she... drinking?" I asked Mihail, but it was Petru who replied.

"No, not exactly. Not yet. But even the few drops that reach her throat will be enough to finish the change, and soon, she will ask for nothing else... Or at least it would be so if His Highness had nothing to do with it," he said with a bow and a tight-lipped smile towards Vlad. "However, congratulations, my friend," Rareş continued, now looking at Mihail. "Hopefully next time we meet I'll be able to say the same to you, Captain," he said looking at Ioan who now appeared by the door next to Clara, "and you, your Highness," he concluded looking back at us.

Vlad squeezed my hand as if he was warning me not to speak, but I wouldn't be able to speak anyway at the moment. Go away, leave us alone, I thought while Clara curtseyed to him.

As no one said anything, Rareş continued, "Well, we will be leaving now. We will be back as soon as your fiancée is deemed fit to be presented to us officially," he spoke to Mihail this time.

"Your Highnesses," he bowed again, and this time, I managed a curtsy. Just go.

More bows and polite goodbyes followed, and finally, as soon as Petru was out in the corridor, I sank back into my chair.

"Are they really gone?" I asked Vlad when he came back after having accompanied our guests to the door and pulled me to my feet again.

"Yes." He smiled, looking as relieved as I felt.

"Will Sorina be all right now?"

"She will, but you are not to come near her in the next few weeks. It wouldn't be safe," he said, looking at the young woman now sleeping peacefully in her bed.

I wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my head against his chest, feeling his hands stroking my back. "Then I expect you to keep me busy, my lord," I announced, looking up at him and smiling as innocently as I could.

"Well, let's see what I can do so you don't get bored, Princess." He grinned.

I heard the two other men still present in the room masking their silent laughter as coughing fits, and as I looked around, I saw Clara's blushing face. That made me blush, too.

"I'm sorry. I forgot we were not alone..." I said, tugging Vlad behind me to the door.

How come he always makes me forget about everything and everyone around us?